Making a Fortune While Cruising

[mintyspilot]

OK. I have the answer. I know how to make a fortune when cruising in the carribean. It's easy when you know how. The Carribean is full of wrecks, so what about..... treasure hunting.

Seriously, the right thing picked off the sea floor could be worth a great deal?

[gonesail]

i always thought the purpose of cruising was to blow a fortune

[David_Old_Jersey]

I've got a map............for sale

[cdennyb]

yes indeed, that's why I plan on taking my ROV and my sidescan sonar unit. While everyone else is dragging a fishing lure, I'll be dragging a sonar unit and looking for that elusive wreck filled with crapp. LoL
www.DeepVisionsLLC.com

[Bash]

you may find your reception to be less than welcoming.

many years ago, when Antigua was just beginning to envision itself as a diving destination, I was part of a team of professional divemasters who conducted a systematic exploration of potential dive sites. It was a fun gig, because we were being hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, and basically got free room, board, and diving by agreeing to explore sites that had never been visited by divers.

One day my team discovered an 18-century cannon, but could locate no other signs of shipwreck. We were pretty excited, and immediately reported our find to the Ministry of Antiquities. They responded by putting us under house arrest, forbidding us from doing any more diving, and threatening us with jail time if we even went wading on the beach. Armed guards were posted at the resort where we were staying.

It was a crazy 24 hours before the Ministry of Tourism could convince the Ministry of Antiquities that we were the good guys, a bunch of dive industry professionals working as volunteers to help their country establish a dive industry.

We were finally allowed back into the water, but were told in no uncertain terms that we were not to return to the site where we'd discovered the cannon. Two days later, a somewhat sheepish official from the Ministry of Antiquities returned to request that we help them find the cannon. Their "archeologists" had been unable to locate it.

bottom line for potential treasure hunters: plan to spend a lot of time in court, and to share most of your profits with lawyers.

[TaoJones]

As Bash's post cautions, even if you do find a "sunken treasure," you can bet that it will be years of court-time before you or anyone else ever sees one dime from the find. Don't think so? Check out the case of the The Black Swan.

After Odyssey located the rich wreck, and announced it, Spain claimed it as their own. And how is it that Spain came to possess all that treasure? Like any self-righteous invading imperialist, they stole it from the previous owners, the natives of the Americas who had mined and refined it.

Interestingly, the importation of such vast quantities of purloined wealth into its economy ultimately introduced so much price inflation that the Spanish economy was quickly ruined, and their imperialist dreams lay in broken pieces all around them.

Pretty much the economic situation Spain finds itself in today.

Here's a link to Odyssey's site: Black Swan - Project Overview

TaoJones

[Christian Van H]

Originally Posted by Bash

One day my team discovered an 18-century cannon, but could locate no other signs of shipwreck. We were pretty excited, and immediately reported our find to the Ministry of Antiquities. They responded by putting us under house arrest, forbidding us from doing any more diving, and threatening us with jail time if we even went wading on the beach. Armed guards were posted at the resort where we were staying.

Wait...I think I've seen this...was Jacquelyn Bissett with you in a wet teeshirt?

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by gonesail

i always thought the purpose of cruising was to blow a fortune

Rather reminiscent of one UK billionaire (Stelios of Easyjet) who is reputed to have said "The fastest way to become an airline millionaire is to start as an airline billionaire".



Bash / TaoJones - maybe I'll skip the Carribean and hoak about in the Med. Interesting that governments can be so touchy about it. Nice story.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by cdennyb

yes indeed, that's why I plan on taking my ROV and my sidescan sonar unit. While everyone else is dragging a fishing lure, I'll be dragging a sonar unit and looking for that elusive wreck filled with crapp. LoL
www.DeepVisionsLLC.com

bet that sonar is attached to my anchor at the time and we drag along together

[cdennyb]

Hey, I'm good with that! LoL who says "dragging anchor" is dangerous...

[Passage50]

Originally Posted by mintyspilot

OK. I have the answer. I know how to make a fortune when cruising in the carribean. It's easy when you know how. The Carribean is full of wrecks, so what about..... treasure hunting.

Seriously, the right thing picked off the sea floor could be worth a great deal?

The Carribean is full of wrecks............. no doubt I saw a few but also met plenty of land based Pirates like "Bruno" the Porter at St. Marten Airport which charges $10 for carting your Bag the fifty steps from the Carousel to the Taxi.

On the bright side, one can enjoy free Beer with the Cheeseburger at MacDonalds I think I come back.

[tager]

So if you find a wreck full of goodies, just don't tell anyone! Duh!

Of course, then you can't sell it.

eBay?

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by tager

Of course, then you can't sell it.

eBay?

Or a museum in a more understanding country?

[Hud3]

There are still undiscovered wrecks out there, but it's not as simple as just scooping up gold doubloons. If you do find a wreck with valuables on the seafloor, the country claiming that territory will have a great deal to say about what, if anything, you get to keep. Also, I've been told that if it's a military vessel, the flag country retains all rights to anything associated with it.

Friends of mine here on Nevis found the wreck of the British frigate HMS Solebay a couple of weeks ago. It was wrecked on a reef here in 1782. They're not planning to "mine" it for collectibles, rather they're hoping the government will declare it a national historic site and protect it.